Improvement in guide-piles



UNITED STATEs PATENT OEEICE.

MARsHALL PARKs, on NORFOLK, vrReiNrA.

IMPROVEMENT IN GUIDE-PILES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 216,970, dated July 1, 1879 application filed April 30, 1879.

o all whom 'it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, MARSHALL PARKs, of the city of Norfolk, in the county of `Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented a new yand useful Guide-Pile or Beacon-Pile for Navi- 4gable Rivers and other navigable water-ways; .and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved guide or beacon pile as it appears when the burner is supplied under the highest pressure of illuminating-gas. Fig. 2 is a vertical cen tral section of the pile as it appears when the burner issupplied under the lowest pressure ofthe gas in the gas-chamber of the pile. Fig. 3 is a vertical section in the line .r x of Fig. 2, the parts being` in the positions shown in Fig. 1. FigA. is a horizontal section, looking downward, in the line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 vis an enlarged detailed section, the parts being in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3; and Fig. GJ is a similar section, but at right angles to the one shown in Figr.

The nature of my invention consists of a hollowmetallic pile for navigable waters, form- `inga gas-chamber for containing compressed illuminatinggas and a gas-burning chamber, said pile being adapted for being partially embedded a portion of its length into the bed or -margin of a navigable river or other navigable water-way, and there firmly iKed in position, and having its upper end provided with transparent windows, and its interior with a gas-pipe having a screw end for either receiving a burner or a gas-charging hose, an airchamber, an automatic gas-'supply valve, and a cock for cutting oft' or letting on the gas as occasion may require.

My beacon-pile not only subserves the of lice of the spar-buoy and the ordinary wooden pile driven or anchored into the bed of or along the margin of a water-'way for guiding thepilot by daylight, but also takes the place of the' illuminated buoy and the inland lighthouse for guiding the pilot at night.

As a substitute for the buoy, it overcomes the great annoyance experienced from the fre Y quent hiding of the light in the troughs of the waves, to which the buoy is subject during heavy storms, as well as the danger of navigation incident tothe displacement of the buoy by storm and tide and the obscuration of its light by saline deposits on its windows; and as a substitute for an inland light-house it is very economical in respect to both cost of construction and attendance.

In the accompanying drawings, A and B represent my illuminated guide or beacon pile, made hollow, either of cast, wrought, or malleable metal, and having its lower interior chamber, a, gas-tight, and separated from its upper chamber, b, by a horizontal plate, c, through. the center of which plate a gas inlet and outlet pipe, G, is passed from the chamber b` into the chamber a, one end-of said pipe extending up into theichamber b and the other into the chamber a. The lower end of course'and connect `with another pipe, C', on

Athe upper end of which is an air-chamber, D.

The pipe C and air-chamber D, with its pipe C', are connected by suitable fastenin gs, as at d e, to the division-plate c of the pile, as shown. On the` upper end of the pipe C a cock, E, is applied for the passage of the gas to be burned, and on the upper end, f, of the barrel of the cock a screw-thread is 4provided to receive either a burner-tip or the hose of a gas-.supplying apparatus when it becomes necessary to charge the chamber a with illuminatinggas by means of a force-pump on board of a steamer or other vessel lying alongside of the pile. The cock E is wholly in the upper chamber, b, ofthe pile, while the gas-pipe C and the air-chamber l), with its pipe Cf, are whollyT within the chamber a, except the connecting end e of the pipe C, which unites with the cock E, as shown. In the pipe C' an inlet and outlet passage, g, communicates with the gaschamber a through a rectangular slot or opening, h', of a plug-valve, h, which is fitted to move air-tight up and down within the tube C', said' valve being inserted in thelower end of the pipe C', and retained therein by a pin, m, attached to the valve, and fitted to travel in an oblong vertical guide-slot, n, of the pipe C, as shown, which pin and slot limit the throw of the valve. The upper section, B, of

the pile is provided with transparent windows p, opposite the burner-connection f of the gascockE, so that the light of the burning gas may be seen through this section on all sides.

One of the window-frames may be in the form of a hinged door, so as to permit ready bodily for the purposes just mentioned, as well as for convenience in setting'the pile in its bed. The parts A and B may be provided with bolting-iian ges for uniting them together, or they may be united by a bayonet-fastening connection. In the section B inlet and outlet passages or vents i" and r' are provided for the 1 ingress of air to promote combustion and the egress of heated air or products of combustion.

A hood or cap, F, of cone shape is made to form the top of the section B, and its lower edge surrounds and overhan gs the egresspassages i", in order to prevent drafts from'` blowing down upon the lighted burner, and still permit a free escape of the heated air from the name.

Around the lower section, A, of the pile a large dishing flange, Gr,in form of a circulartruncated cone is fastened, and this ange, bypresenting a broad surface for bearing upon the bed of the water-way, and by being concave on its under surface, serves to sustain the pile in an upright posit-ion, as well as to anchoritafterit has been embedded in the bottom of the river or water-way.

The extreme lower end of the pile is made of inverted-cone form, so as to readily penetrate the earth-bed while being lowered to its position by any of the well-known modes.

To operate with my beacon-pile, the lower chamber, ce, by means of a force pump, is charged with compressed illuminating gas from a gasholder, which is brought up to the pile on a boat, the gas being forced into the chamber a through the cock E, gas-pipe C, and valve-passage h1. As soon as the pile is fully charged, by greatly compressing the gas within the chamber athe cock E is closed and the gas-charging hose removed from the gasburner screw f, and a burner-tip, f', supplied, as indicated in Fig. 2. After the lact of charging the pile with gas, the valve h is forced up by the expansion of the gas from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Figs. 5 and 6, which latterposition establishes a minimum opening, h2, into and through the val-ve h for the ow of gas through the pipe C to the burner-tip f', which minimum opening will not be greater than is required fora due supply of gas to a single burner under the maximum of pressure of the gas. The cockE is now-opened and the gas lighted, and as the pressure of the gas diminishes in the chamber a, by reason of its combustion at the burner-tip f the valve 71l is caused to increasingly open the passageway for the gas by the pressure of the air upon the valve in the air-chamber D. In this manner it will bc seen that a proper supply of the gas to the burner is effected, the opening for the flow of the gas being diminished to aminimum, as at h2, when the pressure is the great-- est, and increasingly enlarging as the pressure grows less, and that this action will be automatically maintained until the opening h1 of the valve h fully registers with the opening or passage g of the pipe G. Y Y

One of these piles, without constructing it of undue proportions, can be charged with enough gas under high compression to burn continuously for a month or more, and, as the illuminated part of the pile is entirely above the reach of the water, its glass panes cannot become dimmed either by saline deposits or by contact with substances floating in and upon the water, as is the case to more or less extent with the illuminated buoys now iu use.

In applying my piles in some localities, a pile-section of 'solid wood for a foundation may be driven into the bed of the water-way with a metal screw-ring applied to the top of the section to properly connect in any suitable manner with the lower end of my improved pile; and in the construction of the lower portion of my metallic pile I contemplate in some instances the application of broad metal screwiianges, so as to screw the pile\down to its seat in the bed of the water-way.

To afford the means forcharging the chamber a with illuminating-gas in a very brief period of time, a gas-cock or-other proper nxturel for such purpose might be applied to the plate c at one side of the cock E, such fixture communicating directly with the chamber a through said plate by an aperture of the required capacity to allow a large volume of gas to be .forced into the chamberaai each stroke of the force-pump.

I am aware that a oating buoy having a compressed-gas chamber and a burner-chamber, and a device for regulating the pressure of the gas in its passage to the burner, is not new, broadly, as the same is set forth in Letters Patent No. 190,979.

1. The combination of a hollow metallic stationary illumination guide-pile provided with a gas-burner, windows, and vents, and with means by which it can be firmly secured lin the bed of a water-way, and a gas-pipe, through which gas is introduced under pressure into the pile froma suitable supply-chamber, and from which it is discharged to a burner within the uppertransparent and ventilated portion of the pile, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

2. The stationary illumination guide pile having two chambers, the lowerone of--which burner, substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. Thecombination,in anilluminatiou guidepile, ofthe self-regulating valve h, air-chamber D7 gas-chamber a, and gas-burner pipe C,

substantially as described.

4. The combination ofthe ange G, of truncated-cone form, with the hollow illumination j f guide-pile, whereby the pile is 'firmly vanchored inposition, substantially as described.

Witness my hand in the matter of my application for a patent for an illuminated navigation guide-pile.

MARSHALL PARKS'.

Witnesses z H. A. HALL, R. L. FENWI'GK. 

